how to build a neck jig matt vinson

8/2/2019 How to Build a Neck Jig Matt Vinson

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How To Build A Neck Jig

(by Matt Vinson)

Originally taken from www.guitarfrenzy.comThe neck jig is a very important tool to have. It can be the difference between

having a good playing guitar or having one that plays great. I will explain in

another article on why and how to use the neck jig. For now, we are

concentrating on how to construct yourself one. Here is a list of things you need

to build one:

Neck Jig Parts List

Description Where I Purchased Quantity Part # Price per unit

2x4 (8ft) local hardwood store 1 none -

16"x24"x1" flat board local hardwood store 1 none -

1/4-20 threaded inserts www.mcfeelys.com1 package

(10)3606-STS 4.02

Knobs (1/4-20) 1" stud www.mcfeelys.com 4 JKA-2510 .77

6mm driver for inserts www.mcfeelys.com 1 3606-STD 9.95

Dial Indicators www.harborfreight.com 2 623-0VGA 13.99

Ratchet Strap Tie Downs local hardware store 2 none -

Plastic Caps local hardware store 4 none -

Mini Jack www.stewmac.com 1 3592 3.82

8" long eyebolt 1/4-20 local hardware store 1 none -

1/4-20 pan head machinescrew

local hardware store 2 none -

small strap (lash strap) local hardware store 1 none -

1/4-20 nuts local hardware store 6 none -

1/4-20 washers local hardware store 6 none -

drywall screws local hardware store 1 box none -

3/8" steel rod (3 ft piece) local hardware store 1 none -


2/23

The first thing you'll want to do is cut the main board to 16"x24" or whatever size you

want the neck jig body to be. I find that to be big enough to jig acoustics, bass, or

whatever guitar you want to jig. So after it's cut out you will draw a centerline down the

middle of the board which is 8" from the side in this case. Next, cut the 2x4 to around 51"long and draw a centerline all the way down the top of it. Also on this neck jig, I cut

another 16" piece of 2x4 to go across the back of the neck jig to make it stable instead of

using levelers. The 16" 2x4 was marked in the center and the 51" piece was marked at one

end in the center of the board. You can attach these two boards with some drywall

screws, making a T shape out of the boards. Now you can align the top board and screw it

down to the 2x4's, using your centerline as a guideline. The 16" 2x4 board should align

flush at the end with the board. See the picture below. You can't see the back board but

you can see where it was screwed down by looking at the top board.


3/23

As you can see in this picture that the board was attached on top of the 2x4, which is

different than the ones Stew Mac sells, but since I wasn't going to use the 4" swivel

levelers I needed all the height I could get. In the photo above you can also see that the

centerline on the 2x4 was drawn and had been drilled after the board was attached with a

3/8" drill bit at 4 different key locations. You will make 4 marks on the 2x4 at the center

mark, measuring from where the board is attached at the top. The measurements I used

measuring from the board is: 1st mark (4"), 2nd mark (8"), 3rd mark (12.5"), 4th mark

(18.5"). The reason I used these are because I took measurements from Stew Mac's Jig,

by watching video's and looking at pictures using guitars necks as a reference. In all

actuality though you could have used more rods if you wanted to. After they have been

marked you can use the 3/8" drill bit and drill all the way through the board at those

locations. These are for the steel rods to go through. Now you can cut your steel rods into

four 9" pieces and place the plastic cap on the ends. Next, take speed square and using the

top marks as your guide draw 4 lines down the side of the 2x4 so you can drill out a hole

for the threaded inserts. The lines should be on the right side of the 2x4 looking at it from

the 2x4 end. These inserts will let the knob stud contact the rod to keep it in place when

tightened. After the line is drawn you will mark down 1-1/2" and will make the center

line for drilling the 3/8" hole needed for the threaded inserts. Look at the picture below to

get an idea of what I'm talking about.


4/23

Now that you have your mark you can go ahead and drill the 4 holes out with the 3/8" bit,

but only till you reach the other hole you had drilled from the top for the rods. You don't

want to drill them all the way through.


5/23

Be careful when driving the threaded insert in with the 6mm driver, or you might split the

wood badly.


6/23

You should have something that resembles this when your finished.

Now we can test to see if the steel rods and knobs will fit and work good. In this next

picture, you can see I have gotten it all together and have even placed the dial indicators in

front of where they will be mounted later, so you can get a better idea of what's going on.


7/23

Now I need to route out a round slot so that the dial indicator has room for back part of

the plunge to go into if needed. I have marked off the center between the 1st hole and 2nd

hole and will use a round cement (2" round) can and a pencil to draw a template so that

my router pattern bit will follow it and make a nice clean cut for the access.


8/23

You can make a template by drawing a little over half the circle to the edge of a 1/4" piece

of ply and cut it out with a scroll saw or band saw. Clean up the mistakes with a 2" drum

sander if needed. Now you can align it and route it out a little over 1" deep.

After the first dial indicator recess was routed out, I made a mark 3/4" away from the 3rd

hole from the board and placed the dial indicator recess jig so that the left edge of the

circle touched it. Double stick taped it down again with another 2x4 past it to hold the

template flat and routed out the second recess.


9/23

Now you should have something similar to this when your done.

Now that both dial indicator recess are cut out it's time to get ready to install two

threaded inserts. I have chosen threaded inserts simply because I can turn the 1/4-20

screws to move the dial indicators up and down depending on how I need them

positioned. I used two common 5" pan head screw (1/4-20) to hold the dial indicators in

proper place, but first we need to drill out the 3/8" holes for them. You will have to use

your own judgement on where you want to place them. I drew a centerline in the middle

of the circle and then used a nail to make a starter hole 3/4" away from the edge in both

recesses. In the picture below you can see where I made the starter hole, threaded insert,

and the 5" pan head screw I will use to hold the dial indicators in place. You could have

just used 1/4-20 piece of all thread, since I later decided I'd have to hacksaw the head of

the screw off. If you just buy a regular screw like I did in this one, run a nut all the way

up around 1" away from the screw head. Cut the head of the screw off with a hacksaw

and twist the nut off the same end that was cut. It will in a sense rethread the bolt after it

was cut.


10/23

Here's a close up so you can see how it was marked better.

Now for the threaded inserts that I'm using it takes a 3/8" hole, so using the drill press

again, I drilled a hole at least 2" deep just in case I later decide to use longer threaded

rods. You'll probably have to move the support rods in order to use the drill press.


11/23

Now being very careful, drill the threaded inserts straight down into place.

You should end up with something like this when your finished.


12/23

Now you can see that if we just mount the dial indicators on like this. The plunge bar

won't be directly under the neck your jigging, so it will have to be bent just right so that

everything aligns correctly.

This picture will give you a better idea of how the dial indicator will be held in place with

two 1/4" screws.


13/23

I went ahead and cut both the bolts heads off and went to bending the bolt the way I

needed it. I took a 6" steel ruler and ran one nut up to until it measured 3/4" away from

the end. I put the nut part in a vise and with my hands bent it over until it was 45 angled.

Then turn it around and measure 2" from the end and bend it until it's parallel with the

other end. Just make sure when your bending it, that you do so with the end in the vise or

you'll end up having the nut where it won't unscrew.. lol

Now you can turn the bolt with the 3/4" end down until it holds and run the nut down

and tighten it until it holds it in proper place.


14/23

Next you can install the dial indicator as was shown in another picture using two nuts, one

that above and one below the back bracket.

Here's another angle of the dial indicator. It looks tilted to the left, but that's because of

the way the picture was taken. The main object is to make sure that the dial indicators

are in line with the support rods.


15/23

Now that we have the dial indicators ready to mount later we can move on to taking the

final steps in making the neck jig.

Here is a picture of the lash strap I bought for the headstock pull down. They come two a

package, but was the best I could find like that.

From the last dial indicator recess toward the last neck support slot, away from the neck

jig body board. Measuring from the middle of the insert I marked off 1 1/2" away from it

with a 6" steel ruler.


16/23

The eyebolt I'll be using is around 8" long and there will need to be a 1/4" hole drilled all

the way through the 2x4.

Next, I took a 1/2" round straight bit and used a small laminate trim router with guide to

route out a straight slot so that the eyebolt will have room to recess if needed. I routed

until I was around 1" or so away from the last support rod hole.


17/23

You can cut the lash strap so that it isn't as long. You don't need 8 foot of strap.. lol Just

give yourself enough so that you can go from the eyebolt all the way up to where the neck

will be and leave enough extra just in case.

Now you can push the strap through the eyebolt and thread it through the lash strap to

make sure everything fits good.


18/23

Now you can push it through the slot for now. Later on you will use a female knob to pull

it down when the Neck Jig is ready to finish.

Now we can finally mount the dial indicators, but first if you get some like mine, you'll

have to remove the back cover and turn it so that the bolt will hold the dial indicators

straight up and down. Below is a picture of one that's already been turned the correct

way, and the other is in the process of being done the same way.


19/23

Now to mount the 1/4" thread you made earlier on. You'll want to get it so that you can

tighten down the 1/4" nut with a open end wrench. It will hold it in place wherever you

want it.

Now to hold the dial indictors in place all I did was use two 1/4" nuts on both sides of the

mounting bracket to hold it wherever it needs to be. It's easy to move it up and down

now by moving the nuts up or down. You'll have to experiment to get the proper

placement depending on which guitar your jigging. It doesn't take long to figure out

though, and making mental notes of where it was, for a particular style guitar, helps also.


20/23

After both the dial indictors have been tightened into place it was time to move on to the

mini jack. For right now I just used a cork circle and glued it to the top to protect the

headstock. You can use whatever you feel is safe though.

Here is another good look of the neck jig board with everything attached properly. The

mini jack isn't mounted, it's simply setup here so you can get a good idea of how the neck

jig should look when done.


21/23

I used some thin piece of masking tape to put on top of each dial indicators to keep the

back of the neck from any harm (look at the picture below). You can use whatever you

want though, cork, etc. You'll notice that I didn't use the swivel head levelers on this jig,

simply because I can just stack up boards and use a mat to put on top of it, to hold the

guitar in place. In this picture, I used a thin piece of foam, but I would have been better

off using something less giving as I would learn later. So basically, now I use a mat to go

over the boards to protect the guitars finish. You have to use the ratchet pull downs to

hold the guitar in place and maybe I'll have time to do another tutorial on how to use oneproperly. You can find a lot of information about using a neck jig on the web though.

Here's a basic description of how to use one, just to get you started properly.

You'll align the guitar so that the neck is centered with the support rods and dial

indicators. Also, so that the dial indicator is around the 1st fret area. You don't need the

support rods just yet, so bring them down. After the body has been fastened down real

good, being sure to use something to protect the sides, top of the guitar where the straps

come over, you'll be ready to jig.

Don't worry about what the dial indicators read at this point; just make sure they are

contacting the back of the neck though.


22/23

Now with the strings attached, tuned up to pitch, use a leveler to check for straightness.

The main object is to get the neck as straight as possible using the truss rod adjustment.

The reason for this is two-fold. One, you'll have less fret material to remove in order to

get them level. Two, the fret heights will be more consistent.

Once you've felt like the fretboard is as level as it can be. You zero your dial indicators as

a reference point. Here is a good close up of turning the outside ring so that the dial aligns

with the 0.


23/23

Next, you can remove the strings from the guitar. And you use the pull down strap and

mini jack to push and pull the neck until the dial indicators get as close to zero again as

possible. What it's doing is getting the neck back into the position it was in when you had

it straight, with string tension. Bring your support rods up, being extra careful to not

move the dial indicators away from zero too much in the process. When all the support

rods are in place, you can do your normal fret job while in the jig.

We'll that about all I have to write at this time. I hope you got a lot out of this tutorial andI'm looking forward to seeing how yours turns out. Maybe I'll do a whole separate

tutorial on how to use the neck jig if anyone is interested. I also want to thank Robert May

for all his input into this tutorial. Thanks..

This Tutorial Was Written by Matt Vinson

First posted by Guitarfrenzy

how to build a neck jig matt vinson

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